The Bar Crusher 560 C is a pure fishing machine, aimed squarely at dedicated offshore anglers who like to get to their favourite hunting grounds in comfort and have everything ready to fish. The layout and construction of the Bar Crusher shows the mark of experienced and serious fishers, with everything exactly where the angler would expect to find it.

The ride of the Bar Crusher is in the top three alloy boats I have tested, and there is no sign of the spine-jarring pounding often associated with aluminium hulls offshore. We took the Bar Crusher out from Cairns in serious conditions during a strong wind warning. The boys from Boat Scene, who supplied the test boat, were as impressed with the ride as I was. There was a short sharp chop heading out of the inlet and the Bar Crusher ate it in both directions, slicing though what would have been a nasty wave in most alloy hulls.

The key to the outstanding ride is the deep V hull that is normally be associated with poor stability; not so with the Bar Crusher. The water ballast flooding hull drops the chines into the water at rest, or when trolling. It gives the Bar Crusher the best of both worlds – an excellent ride and great stability.

The six longitudinal stringers, fully welded to the cross frames, creates a very strong triangular sub frame, which then has a fully welded checkerplate floor on top. When combined with 4mm plate bottom and 3mm sides, you have one of the toughest boats on the market.

Fantastic features

From the moment you fold down the heavy-duty T-section boarding ladder and step onto the wide duckboard to walk through the step-through transom, you get the immediate feeling that this boat has everything an angler could want.

The rear seat folds up to give a full-height transom for backing into a sea, and the extra space makes it comfortable to fish with four anglers. There is a large kill pen under the floor in front of the transom.

The fully plumbed livebait tank on the starboard transom top is a comfortable height and a good size. It has a stack of large overflow holes on the rear side so scales and baitfish won’t clog the overflow.

The bait board, located over the motor, has a large drainage pipe that feeds straight into the berley bucket (with muncher) positioned on the starboard side of the duck board. Three rocket launchers on the back of the bait board and another six on top of the Targa bar provide a stack of rod storage options.

The deck drains back into a large bilge; easily accessed when the lounge seat is up. The Bar Crusher is fitted with six cast alloy rod holders, so electrolysis is not an issue. Side pockets run the full length of the cockpit.

The gas strut mounted folding roof, a brilliant optional extra, can be operated in seconds in bad weather. With one hand you can pull the roof down onto the screen to offer great weather protection (with the side clears fitted). It rained during the test run and we used the system. It really worked in practice – kept us all dry.

Another great feature is ability to easily fold the cabin roof and the screen down to get the ‘boat on trailer height’ down to 2.2m, which will fit comfortably in a standard garage.

Both deluxe padded bucket seats slide and rotate, and they are mounted on boxes that offer stacks of easy-to-access two-level storage. A footrest in front of the helm seat keeps the skipper comfortable when travelling, and the passenger dash has a large grabrail. There is also a side grabrail so two anglers can stand and hang on in comfort.

The helm is fitted with standard Suzuki instrumentation and has a six-switch panel to control onboard electronics, along with a 12-volt power outlet to operate spotlights and the like. A standard internal cabin light shows the attention to user-friendly detail, which is exceptional throughout the boat. This is especially evident when you open the huge front hatch to access the anchoring system.

Each Bar Crusher comes fitted with a SARCA no. 2A anchor. The anchoring system is spot on, and there is enough room to fit a winch if desired. The split bowrail feeds directly onto the bow, and the anchor lock system means there is no need to pull the anchor off the roller and store it in the anchor well when underway.

There is plenty of head height to get into the cabin and you don't have to be a contortionist to step into the void between the bunks to access the nose. Bunk fills are standard and create a large flat area to crash out on during an overnighter. There is a huge amount of under-bunk storage and side pockets in the cabin.

RIDE AND HANDLING

The 140hp Suzuki four-stroke got the Bar Crusher out of the hole very smartly and had a stack of power. It pushed the Bar Crusher along at an impressive clip, doing 29km/h (18mph, 16kts) at 3500rpm, 37km/h (23mph, 20kts) at 4000rpm, 44km/h (27mph, 24kts) at 4500rpm, 50km/h (31mph, 27kts) at 5000rpm, 54km/h (34mph, 29kts) at 5500rpm, and topped out at 61km/h (38mph, 33kts) at 6000rpm.

The Bar Crusher handled beautifully, turning very hard with ease while providing an extremely comfortable ride. There was no sign of pounding when we hit the nasty stuff out along the channel leads and the ride was very dry. The only negative I found with the entire set-up was that it was a bit noisy when on the fly. Otherwise, I can’t fault the Bar Crusher.

The Bar Crusher is the perfect rig for the serious offshore fisher who prefers an alloy hull and wants a great riding boat in a ready-to-fish layout. For further information contact Boat Scene in Cairns on (07) 4051 4922.

Facts

SPECIFICATIONS

Hull length - 5.6m

Length overall - 6.1m

Beam -2.25m

Bottom sides - 4mm

Top sides - 3mm

Transom shaft height - 25” Extra Long

Fuel capacity -150L

Weight -640kg (hull only)

Tow weight (BMT) -approx. 1310kg

Recommended hp - 115

Max hp - 140

Overall trailer length - 6.8m

Overall trailer width - 2.25m

Height on trailer w/ roof up - 3.1m

Height on trailer w/ roof down - 2.2m

Price -from around $42,000

[CAPTIONS]

1) From anchor to bait board, the Bar Crusher 560 C is pure fishing.

2) The combination of a deep V and a flooding tunnel creates the perfect combination of a soft ride and stability at rest.

3) There is a stack of easily accessible storage under the pivoting and sliding seats.

4) When the lounge seat is down it opens up the step-through transom. Note the size of the livebait tank on the left.

5) The overflow from the bait board feeds straight into the berley muncher. Note the four large overflow holes for the livebait tank and the grabrails either side of the fold-down ladder, to port.